United States Department of Transportation
i
Flight to the future : human factors in air traffic control
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1997-01-01
[PDF-2.23 MB]
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TRIS Online Accession Number:00742299
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ISBN:0309056373
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NTL Classification:NTL-AVIATION-Air Traffic Control;NTL-AVIATION-Aviation Human Factors;
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Abstract:The nation's air traffic control system is responsible for managing a complex
mixture of air traffic from commercial, general, corporate, and military
aviation. Despite a strong safety record, the system does suffer occasional
serious disruption, often the result of outdated and failed equipment. When
equipment failures occur, system safety relies on the skills of controllers and
pilots. Under these circumstances, safety is maintained by reducing the number
of aircraft in the air. Pressures to provide the capacity to handle a greater
number of flights in the future and to maintain high levels of safety and
efficiency have led to proposals to provide more reliable and powerful equipment
and at the same time increase the level of automation in air traffic control
facilities-that is, to use advances in technology to take over tasks that are
currently performed by humans. Such proposals have raised concern that
automation not compromise the safety or efficiency of the system by
marginalizing the human controller's ability to provide the necessary backup
when disruptions occur. The Panel on Human Factors in Air Traffic Control
Automation was convened at the request of the Federal Aviation Administration
(FAA) for the purposes of gaining an understanding of, and providing
recommendations on, the human factors characteristics of the current air
traffic control system, the national airspace system, and future automation
alternatives in terms of the human's role in the system. The panel's charge
divides the tasks into two phases. The first focuses on the current system and
its development as a means to: (1) understand the complexities of and problems
with the current air traffic control system that automation is intended to
address; (2) describe the manner in which some levels of automation have already
been implemented; and (3) provide a baseline of human factors knowledge as it
relates to the functions of the air traffic controller in the system. The
second phase is to assess future automation alternatives and the role of the
human operator in ensuring safety and efficiency in the air traffic control
system. This report provides the results of the panel's work during the first
phase. The link in this record leads to the frontal material of the study,
Flight to the Future: Human Factors in Air Traffic Control. By clicking on the
Document Homepage button at the end of the web page, the viewer is taken to a
page which offers ordering information for the hardcopy book of the study (384p.)
and a link to the left to a hypertext Table of Contents from which the viewer
can select portions to read as desired on-line.
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